Combined floodlight holder and camera support



Nov. 21, 1950 A. sEcoFsKY EIAL 2,530,912

COMBINED FLOODLIGHT HOLDER AND CAMERA SUPPORT Filed Dec. 31, 194"! 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 N VEN TORS.

/ g7w .5. ABE); HA MI St'C'OFSKK MURRAY AME/5E1.

BY I

ATTOFA/fY Nov. 21, 1950 A. SECOFSKY El'AL COMBINED F LOODLIGHT HOLDER AND CAMERA SUPPORT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 51, 1947 I INVENTORS. ABRAHAM SEC'OFSKL BWURRA) A. IE/5E1.

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 21, 1950 T T QFFV' C COMBINED LooD r Ho E AND CAMERA SUPPORT e raham Secoi'sky, New prk, and Murray A.

Meisel,- nmexly my. Application lleeember 31, 1947, Serial No. 794,862

,Ihis invention relates toan improved combihas as its general object, the provision of aLflood- ,light holder upon whieha camera maybe directly mounted in order toallow adjustment of the fieodlights and. operation ,of the camera by a single operator.

.ll eretoiore, it has been necessary for an assistant to adjust and hold the vfioodli ghts or for the photographer [to preadjust the floodlights at ,points 'inconveniently removed from the camera and timer! properly focus the camera. Frequently,

'it ;ha's.;-b.eennecessary to readjust the fioodlights -.before satisfactory illumination of the object is obtained, therebyentailing great inconvenience [and loss-of time ,by the photographer.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of the invention to. provide a floodlight holder having ;a. bracket upon which the camera may be mounted.

It is. a further object of the invention .to provide a floodlight holder upon which a camera may be directly mounted, and having a flexible, adjust- ,Qdble.'conne'ctionfor mounting upon a tripod or sin lllarjsupport, thereby allowing angular adjustment of .the ,floodlight holder and camera in ,alldirections.

Another objectof theinvention is the provision of afiocdlight holder having a bracket upon which-a cameramay-be directly mounted, the bracket being shaped in such a manner as to provide a convenient vholding element when a trip odor similar support is not available.

'The foregoing objects, as wel1 as additional objects and advantages of the invention'will be readily apparent in the course of the following detailed description taken in connection with the ,ac comp a nying drawings, which illustrate preerred embodiments of the invention, and where- Fig. l is. a top plan view of a fioodlightholder embodyingthe features of the inyention, showing the elongated floodlight housing and the camera mounting bracket, the floodlight bulbs being shown in dotted outline.

Fig. 2 is a front plan view of the holder of Fig. 1, Showing the adjustable, flexible connection for mounting the holder on a tripod or support.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the holder mounted on a tripod, one of the possible adjusted positions of the holder being shown in dotted outline.

Fig. i is a fragmentary detail of the upper arm of the holder bracket. illustrating the preferred design of the mounting screw for holding the camera.

soiaims. (cr s s-1.5

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic Wi in dia ram for -thefloo htholde ,Fig'.''. 6' is a side 1'e1. tion of a modification of t hje; fioodlight holder employing an extension arm orgm'oluntijng the ca eraf clos er to the object or .even .,above thejobjectf '111'Fig., 7 iisa topplan view of the extension arm.

Big. S' isflals'ide "eleyatio'npr the extension arm.

Fig.8 .isa'iront eleyation of the extension arm.

Fig- 1 0 is a sectionalviewof the socket housing N rig, aj socke t, partly in section, to illustrate the meth odof,mounting a socket in the housing.

7 Referring now to the drawings ingreater detail,

the ,floodlight holder comprises an elongated hous- 151mg v iELhaying receptacles for-retainin floodlight 'jbulbsffi'shoiiin moo ed outline) anda preferany.unnped rana H" havingan upper arm Jig ,3 0 erermgasifa transverse connecting arm {i l and. an auxiliary transversesupport J5, substanitially parallel to tran ve se member I4.

.jBracket i'l f is preferably secured'centrally of "housing Iilby ,means, of screws or in any other ,suitable manner;

u stream"! f bracket 1 I may have threaded 25.;mo'untingfholesQi6 within which may be selectively threaded a mounting screw H. In order g to ifacilitateithe attachment'of' a camera upon u. a i2 mounting screw I7 is preferably not th eaded completely down to enlarged screw head lla, but is providedwith a reduced unthreaded v neck po'r tion i.lb allow i zlg said screw to rotate freely once it is threaded into upper member l2 .Jbew h hr ade rqri o the e howerarm i3 has securedadjacent itsfree end agiiexible, adjustable connection or cable lBpreferably;,terminating in a threaded plug 19 for securing the fioodlight holderiwithin a conventional threaded socket of a tripod or similar sup- ..port. -..In or der to accommodate the iloodlight 40jholder. for improvised supports not having a I threaded socket,:an adapter tilmay be provided '?for threaded engagmentwith plug 19 of flexible connection 18. .AsJcIearIy shown in Fig. 2, adapter 28 inayhav'e a collar 2i and thumbscrew'22 for securing said adapter to any support presenting a projecting plug or rod.

The holder may be mounted on a tripod by threading plug it into the tripod socket and the camera may be mounted on upper arm 12 of bracket H b means of mounting screw H, as shown in Fig. 3. The floodlight holder and camera may then be tiltably adjusted in any desired direction by the operator by bending the flexible, adjustable connection 18.

55 While the drawings illustrate the fioodlight holder having a capacity of six fioodlight bulbs arranged in banks of three on either side of the centrally disposed bracket H, the number and arrangement of the floodlight bulbs may be varied. In the illustrated embodiment, the innermost pair of receptacles is shown having fuses 23 inserted therewithin to eliminate excessive glare in the immediate vicinity of the camera lens as might result from bulbs being placed within these receptacles. If a particular situation requires separate use of the holder without the camera being directly mounted thereon, the fuses 23 may be replaced by floodlight bulbs.

When a tripod or support is not available, the fioodlight holder and attached camera may be conveniently supported by hand, using transverse arm :4 of bracket ll.

Each bank of floodlights may be controlled by a separate switch 24, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, or, if desired, a suitable alternative wiring arrangement may be employed.

Figs. 6-9, inclusive, illustrate a modification of the holder employing an extension arm 25, upon which the camera C may be mounted in order to introduce greater flexibility of use to the holder than when the camera is directly on upper arm E2 of bracket ll. Extension arm 25 is preferably elongated and has a threaded mounting hole 26 adjacent one end for the reception of mounting screw I? retained by upper arm l2 of bracket ll. A beveled groove or slot 2'! is formed in extension arm 25 for slidably retaining a plate 28 having a fastening screw 29 provided with an enlarged head 29a, said fastening screw serving to secure the camera at any desired point along groove or slot 2?. Extension arm 25 may further be L-shaped, having a shorter depending portion 25a carrying a corresponding groove or slot 21a so that the camera may be adjustably positioned vertically alon depending portion 25a by means of plate 28 and fastening screw 29, as shown in dotted outline at the left of Fig. 6.

Since certain modifications may be made in the combination floodlight holder and camera support of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawing be interpreted merely as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. As an article of manufacture for use with an elongated housing carrying a plurality of spaced floodlight receptacles, a camera and a camera support; said article comprising a U-shaped bracket defined by an upper arm, a lower arm and a transverse arm, an auxiliary arm spaced from said transverse arm and fixed between said upper and lower arms, said housing being secured to said auxiliary arm, a mounting screw carried by the upper arm of said bracket for mounting a camera thereupon and a connection fixed to the lower arm of said 4 bracket for securing said bracket to a tripod, support or the like.

2. A combination fioodlight holder and camera; support comprising an elongated housing carrying a plurality of spaced floodlight receptacles, a U-shaped bracket fixed to said housing centrally thereof, a mounting screw :carried by the upper arm of said bracket, a flexible, adjustable connection fixed to the lower arm of said bracket for .securing said bracket to a tripod, support or the like and an extension arm securable to the upper arm of said bracket by means of said mounting screw, said extension arm having a beveled slot, a slidable plate carried by said slot and a removable fastening screw carried by said plate for adjustably positioning a camera along said extension arm.

3. A device in accordance with claim 2, said extension arm having a depending portion at one end thereof, said depending portion having a beveled slot, whereby to adjustably position a camera along said depending portion by means of said plate and said fastening screw.

4. As an article of manufacture for use with an elongated housing carrying a plurality of spaced floodlight receptacles, a camera and a camera support; said article comprising a U- shaped bracket defined by an upper arm, a lower arm and a transverse arm, an auxiliary arm spaced from said transverse arm and fixed between said upper and lower arms, said housing being secured to said auxiliary arm, a mounting screw carried by the upper arm of said bracket, 2. connection fixed to the lower arm of said bracket for securing said bracket to a tripod, support or the like, and an extension arm securable to the upper arm of said bracket by means of said mounting screw, said extension arm having a beveled slot, a slidable plate carried by said slot and a removable fastenin screw carried by said plate for adjustably positioning a camera along said extension arm.

5. A device in accordance with claim 4, said extension arm having a depending portion at one end thereof, said depending portion having a beveled slot, whereby to adjustably position a camera along said depending portion by means of said plate and said fastening screw.

ABRAHAM SECOFSKY. MURRAY A. lWEISEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,780,225 De Moulin Nov. 4, 1930 2,111,368 Kron Mar. 15, 1938 2,237,281 Diesbach Apr. 1, 1941 2,239,379 Bucky Apr. 22, 1941 2,318,633 Ries May 11, 1943 2,403,892 McFarlane July 9, 1946 

